In 2015, with the release of Several Opinions of the State Council of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Further Deepening the Reform of the Electricity System, China's new round of electric power system reform has started. This round of power system reform has a number of important tasks, being a systematic reform of China's electric power industry system, and the construction of the electric power spot market is the "pearl on the crown" in this round of power system reform, and the construction difficulty and the significance of its realisation is not trivial. At the end of 2023, as a representative of China's eight first batch of electric power spot pilots, Shanxi Electricity Spot Market and Guangdong Electricity Spot Market have been in continuous trial operation for more than two years, and they are finally turned into official operation, which has opened a new chapter of China's power system reform and electricity market construction.
The current round of electricity reform is the second systematic reform of China's electric power industry, counting from the first round of electricity reform in 2002, China's electric power system reform has lasted for more than twenty years, the road is long. The Energy Strategy and Operations Research Team of EIRI Tsinghua University has always insisted on working hard and overcoming difficulties to serve the country's major energy strategies despite the suspension of the reforms and the difficult years when no one asked for their help. During the past twenty years, the research team with Prof. Xia Qing and Prof. Kang Chongqing as its core has been deeply involved in the first electricity reform and provided advice and suggestions; the research team with Prof. Chen Qixin and Associate Prof. Zhong Haiwang as its core has been fully involved in the policy formulation and market construction of the new round of electricity reform, supported the compilation of the relevant major documents, supported the top-level design of the market policy, researched on key issues of the electric power market, and provided support for the design of the mechanism, market modeling, clearing and settlement methods, and market-based scheduling technology. They have formed a series of important research results in mechanism design, market modelling, clearing calculation, market-based dispatching technology, etc., which have been adopted by the relevant ministries and commissions of the state for many times and have won a number of scientific and technological awards at the provincial and ministerial levels.
China has built the largest power system in the world. In recent years, with the rapid development of renewable energy, the construction of China's electricity spot market is not only facing many China-specific problems, such as the "plan-market" dual-track system, but also the world's common challenges caused by a high proportion of new energy access. Both the Shanxi power market and the Guangdong power market started the spot market simulation trial run in 2018, followed by the spot settlement trial run. During more than six years of trial operation at various stages, the electricity spot market in the two provinces experienced different operational scenarios and rehearsed countless expected and incidental risks, finally realising official operation at the end of 2023. This is an important reform practice in China's power market construction, a milestone event in China's power system reform, and will also provide important experience reference and effective reference for the construction of China's power market around the country.
The Energy Strategy and Operations Research Team of EIRI, Tsinghua University participated in the construction of the Shanxi Electricity Spot Market and Guangdong Electricity Spot Market. In the Shanxi power market, the team took the lead in designing a market mechanism that accommodates the efficient participation of multiple players such as energy storage, virtual power plants, distributed resources, etc., and put forward a spot market modelling methodology for the optimization of the coupling of electric energy and auxiliary services. In Guangdong power market, the team put forward the theory of power market mechanism design for multi-temporal co-operation, multi-subject coupling, and pan-subject interaction, and proposed a spot market clearing method to adapt to the complex AC/DC mixed large power grid. The team's results have been fully applied to the Shanxi Electricity Spot Market and Guangdong Electricity Spot Market, which have provided important support for the smooth transition of the two markets into formal operation, and have been recognised by the National Development and Reform Commission and the relevant units in Shanxi and Guangdong Provinces, with a series of application certificates and appreciation letters received.
Appreciation letters of National Development and Reform Commission, Shanxi Power Dispatch Centre and Guangdong Power Grid Power Dispatch Centre
In the future, facing the national "3060" dual-carbon strategic goal and the general environment of the new power system construction, the construction of the power market will be further faced with a high proportion of renewable energy connected to the grid, the participation of diversified emerging subjects, the emergence of new scarcity and other challenges, and the construction of the power market and the reform of the power system are always on the way. In order to consolidate the energy security strategy and achieve the optimal allocation of power and energy resources under the premise of ensuring energy security, the Energy Strategy and Operations Research Team of Tsinghua University's Energy Internet Innovation Research Institute (EIIRI) will continue to work hard to serve the development of the country with the results of scientific research and innovation.
